Nebraska vs. Texas: 2021 NCAA volleyball regional final | FULL REPLAY

capacity crowd standing room only texas nebraska it's always special particularly with everything on the line like tonight a trip to the national semifinals it's the longhorns and the corn huskers two of the most storied programs in the history of college volleyball for the longhorns they almost didn't make it to their 26th regional final they were trailing two sets to none to washington and 1510 before coming storming back to give themselves this opportunity to get back to the championship for nebraska what a resume 31 regional final appearances and this is their 10th in a row nebraska league to the all-time series as you can see but most importantly in the ncaa tournament texas has a slight edge and they do because they beat nebraska last year three sets to one they look ready selima i think we are as well hi everybody paul sunderland with my partner as always three-time all-american selima rockwell when this all started long long ago and far away it was usc and ucla then in your generation penn state and the same nebraska team but is this now the best rivalry in all of college volleyball i i would say without a doubt and it's not just the history they have playing in the same conference it's really the magnitude of the matches and the importance of the big matches they played in ruining one another's seasons back and forth over the years so this has become the biggest rivalry in volleyball they played for the championship in 1995. they did it again in 2015. they played in the semifinals in 2016. you get the idea but they get there very differently they do and for texas it is their offense they are loaded from every single position it's rare that you find a team that has every single player hitting over 300 and their serving game has increased and that's why they've become so dangerous they always have done it at the net but now they're getting it done from the service line a very slow start for logan engleston and the rest of the longhorns but look what they did offensively over the final four sets and that was the first ever ncaa win for a longhorn team after trailing two sets to one for nebraska quite literally the best backcourt defensive team in the country without question they have at some times three libros on the court because they are so good defensively keeping everything off the floor this is something that texas has not seen this level of floor defense over the course of the season you see where they rank in those categories look what they do to opponent hitting percentage dicks per set 17.2 the question for nebraska is after they dig a ball can they convert against this texas block and defense as well best three out of five sets one more ticket to be punched nebraska in their road red uniforms and we're underway and immediately one of those digs and a block by texas there it is right there that's the nature of the beast leslie rodriguez the defensive player of the year wearing number eight in the black liberal jersey only a freshman perfect dig but nebraska was unable to put a point on the board that is going to be the question can they transition fast enough and beat the block of texas there's nalani yoseva sia 5'8 sophomore out of torrance california the liberal for the longhorns eggleston first look into the cross court nice shot by number 22 lindsey krause one of three outstanding freshmen in the starting lineup for the cornhusker six foot four freshman out of papillion nebraska the cornhuskers finished second in the big ten conference the nation's strongest at fifteen and four twenty four and seven overall here's kenzie knuckles forbearly a libero now playing defensive specialist and back row attacker [Applause] exactly cubic looking to go over the top did you get a touch no missed that one over the top of the block and out of bounds they're going to need nebraska is going to need her left sides to be big and have a good night this evening maddie cubic can do it she has been their rock throughout the season they need to keep that ball in the court give themselves a chance sydney peterson wearing number eight in white defensive specialist 5-4 senior out of dike iowa was spectacular throughout the course of the evening against washington in that comeback win cubic going into the cross court and missed it just out of bounds so a couple of hitting errors by the cornhuskers in texas goes out quickly when you look at the block of texas you got to work around it got to find ways to find the floor and that's what mata cubic is doing right now mentioned peterson and her play against the huskies 14 digs on the night and really did a wonderful job in first ball contact kayla kathy over the top of the block and down wearing number three in red six foot senior the transformers from missouri out of chicago illinois hit 383 on the season and a nice run by nebraska running that just in the gap over the top of o'neal with no help from gabriel here is lexi rodriguez first team all big ten and once again defensive player of the year tough serve down the line cubic gonna get another look pretty good set in transition james is there on the pancake not a good free ball pass by peterson maybe some early nerves the poke again and too much traffic along the sidelines that ball was passed just a little bit off the net and they weren't really able to run their offense like they wanted to but of course eggleston coming through hitting that high flat swing off the hands of the block logan eggleston had 20 kills on 34 swings the 6-2 senior out of brentwood tennessee back-to-back big 12 player of the year [Applause] a little bit of a combination play and it caught peterson up high unable to control moving cubic around a little bit just giving her some different looks and that's where that change happens came in for that inside two and cut it back to the corner defensive specialist out of hawaii kiana akana 5'9 sophomore part of that digging trio you may get past the block but it's hard to get the ball on the floor against these huskers they are a tough serving team she's one of the best 55. right on cue hard flat with velocity working on eggleston and when we spoke with nebraska head coach john cook earlier today we asked him about serving target she said look we have a different one in every rotation but isn't it eggleston most of the time because she's so important to texas it is eggleston a lot of the time but it really depends and sometimes it's a hitting number off of a certain passer in a certain rotation as well this is just putting some pressure on her skyler fields rolling that was a good shot by number five in white she needs some help from her teammates that's got to come up a very smart shot they need to just hustle get after the ball that's what we saw in that second half of the washington match but they just upped their defense that ball wouldn't have fallen in those last few sets schuyler fields got off to a very very slow start against washington 4 of 14 on 17 swings but then completely turned it around [Applause] out of the back row nice high hard swing by 33 in white eggleston what a good read by nebraska got both blockers in there they were in place but eggleston sees that little bit of an open opening off the right hand of lawrence divers when these two teams met last year in omaha three sets to one for asia o'neil logan eggleston had 18 kills as did skylar fields fields was spectacular 18 of 27 one error she can just go off at time to go over top of the block tied at five [Applause] perfect pass going away from the slide maddie cubic perfectly executed roll shot right into the campfire well that's the thing she didn't have to hit it as hard as she could she wanted to take a little bit off of it and just groove it right down in front of the defense right now cubic has a match up at least in a couple of rotations with jenna gabriel advantage nebraska without question if she can really work that down the line doesn't have to be clean but just work that half of the court fields again that's pitching catch to rodriguez it is indeed perfect pass perfect free ball pass and thrown down working on akana by brianne butler for number 10 first kill returning all-american for texas well that's what texas has to be patient with their swings first dog ball perfectly dug out of the left back come back again and find a different way to score breon butler 6-4 senior out of kendall texas and that ball just out of bounds one of only two seniors who are not going to use their extra covet year she'll be leaving the texas program has already redshirted once as will defensive specialist sydney peterson everybody else is coming back that's a pretty uh good core to come back here is lauren stevens speaking of all-american six foot four senior three-time all-american out of scottsdale arizona good block along with bayton horst ally baton horse first time we call her number another one of these outstanding freshman six foot four out of houston texas wearing number 14 in red good help but that was really cathy diving into that angle seeing it reading it well you can see that's a great look right there cutting off that angle stiffering served very well in their win over illinois on thursday night perfect pass almost one-on-one you want to talk match-up right now with skyler fields going over nicklin haynes she can if that balls all the way at the antenna she could rise above it and really crush that line well and i'm looking at the rotations and it appears to me if i can count to six that that that match-up's going to be there a lot here's mendelini para 511 sophomore out of mexico led all big ten big 12 servers in aces bait and horse going off speed the ball's up by gabriel oh they called that down the linesman the linesman on the texas side is hearing it from this standing room only crowd that that play is challengeable it is challengeable there's no real arguments i think gabriel knew that part of that ball hit the floor good call good call we're using the quote-unquote old challenge system we'll get into that in a moment that ball drifts just out of bounds we got a moment during the course of the season and all the power five conferences you had two challenges and if you were proven correct you basically had an infinite number well going back to quote-unquote the old system you get three to start the match you get an additional if we play five sets but once you use it it's gone it's gone and it's a different strategy with both systems and how and how you use the challenges and when [Applause] prousy able to tap that ball down inside the block of o'neill and phillips speaking of challenges how huge was a challenge for texas in the washington match 1917 the ball just barely raised the antenna that was a big one nebraska leading 10-8 and now make it 10-9 lindsay krause 8-14 against illinois illinois playing short-handed nebraska beating the fighting illini for the seventh straight time beat him 25 12 25 21 25 17. and it is lindsey krause's 19th birthday by the bye good pass by cubic nebraska is receiving surf very well right now pokey right back at you and kept alive good stab save but texas could not follow up on the play and nebraska continues to leave what have you seen so far it is going as you expected some things for people to look for on either side it is yeah it's the tough serving you're going to see a couple of misses from nebraska but they're both really good serving teams so you're going to see that i'm impressed with nebraska serve receive right now really holding it down and texas is also able to get the ball going but the defense we've seen nebraska dig they haven't quite been able to transition through some of those plays but in texas being patient when they do dig so pretty consistent with what we thought would happen so far that ball missed just out of bounds but look at jared elliot two outstanding coaches there is his counterpart john cook in his 22nd year coach elliott in his 21st good pass by eggleston that was an awkward looking play but the ball is blocked on the outside by krause and now the biggest lead for the visiting cornhuskers in this regional final back in beautiful austin texas cooled off a little bit where did where did the spring weather go was in the 50s today that's what happens here in texas it's just crazy in the winter seventh meeting in the ncaa tournament all time and a lot of them very very big matches the fourth in a regional final [Music] nebraska pretty dialed in now blocking they've already blocked three balls good set in transition krousey into the cross court and peterson could not control when you talk about the blocking and the serve is always connected what are we where are we going with the ball and then where does the ball go off the net and what does that mean where where are they going to set that right now it just looks like nebraska knows exactly where texas is going to set the ball crowsey a perfect four for four to start this regional final obviously her first is only a freshman what a pressure cooker she's had a really good freshman year o'neal on the slide good cover over by yoseah cubic looking high hands really good first contact can nebraska play some defense yeah they do they make you really work and get on the board everybody i mean nicholan haynes a fantastic defender as well that time she's on retreating getting back to her defensive spot and eggleston recognizes that and just chops it over the block logan eggleston now speaking of defense some block touches some stuff blocks and some digs eggleston now 3 of 11. 14 10 is the advantage for nebraska the number 10 overall seed texas the number two seed [Applause] combination play nice move stiffens attracting a lot of attention and then cubic going against the flow two of the very very best for a long time between them six nationals five national championships four for john cook jared elliott winning his in 2012. hall of famer and john cook the fifth winningest coach in the history of the sport this year once again for the eighth time jared elliot the big 12 coach of the year consistency they're always in the mix serious numbers as win percentages that's trouble shank pass stiffens with a touchdown nebraska serving again this is a tough tough serving team i've watched them over the course of the season really get teams in trouble lauren stiveron's in the middle of your screen at the net returning all-american middle blocker had off-season back surgery back on may 11th did not play until the 13th match of the season another shank pass texas needs to use their second timeout yeah coachella is going to call their second 17-10 nebraska our hearts are with those affected by the devastating storms that swept through the united states last night to all who were impacted and to the communities who begin to recover the recovery process you were in our thoughts and prayers travis hudson the outstanding head coach at western kentucky had these thoughts on twitter and i was just looking at the bottoms watch how many beautiful giving selfless people step forward to put our community back together and it's going to take a lot the devastation we were having our meeting and it was mentioned that this tornado was on the ground for 277 miles i've never heard of such a thing there is no such a thing and it's so terrible but it's good to hear that the community is rallying around and and trying to help coming out of the timeout akana back to serve peterson now in a two-person serve receive [Applause] good use of the timeout but now texas is out of timeouts neither team has used a challenge as yet asia o'neil back to the line seven of 15 no errors on thursday night against washington is going to come down the line here at akana what a pass that ball was deep in the seam and missed out of bounds kenzie knuckles missed that number two in red coachella gave us some really interesting numbers as far as serve receive and efficiency when lexi rodriguez makes first contact nebraska sides out at a 400 efficiency after that the drop off ocon is next but after that it's precipitous it really is and those are the numbers you get from volumetrics and you play off those numbers second stuff block for texas texas getting themselves in place that swallows off the net look at butler man drop that left hand well that's a mistake by cubic one of the best at her position going after brianne butler at six foot four when you got five foot eight jenna gabriel down the line she was trying to go sharp into the cross court and it just didn't exist tyler hildebrand outstanding assistant coach going over to cubic and saying you know you might want to go over and think about that one cover to the ncaa women's volleyball championship continues with the national semifinals on thursday at 7 eastern time on espn for more information on the ncaa women's volleyball championship log onto ncaa.com the official online home for all 90 ncaa championships and some congratulations to the louisville cardinal into the national semifinals for the first time the number four seed wisconsin badgers in three sets over minnesota wisconsin will be going to their third straight national semifinal the pit panthers look at that two acc teams and the pit panthers will take on the winner of this match between number 10 nebraska and number two texas but pitt looked good in that match against purdue really just firing on all cylinders a lot of live attackers on that team like a tour member monet or member money i love it she was money tonight she was really really good that was a solid solid performance [Applause] [Applause] you know who was really good today as well freshman center rachel fairbanks for pittsburgh so good really good really she's playing six rotations as a setter and attacking as well she was really good what a live arm she has a heavy hard ball 17-13 nebraska led it at the first texas time-out 13-9 and then at the second 17-10 a mini-run for the longhorns forcing a timeout to be called by nebraska sacco tilly at the bottom of the screen trying to get the crowd involved he knows how important they are they're here they're involved not a great set that ball was outside the antenna pitch and catch lexi rodriguez is phenomenal digging into the cross court you just don't want to hit right at her he just died or at knuckles smart shot that's nebraska at their best well that's what they have to do they've been smart with in a good position you know they're gonna dig the ball we talked about this early on can they transition and score got to be smart off they head to the block and two of the hands off of gabriel right now nebraska siding out at 77 percent texas at 56. [Applause] overpass bayton horse straight to the floor texas is out of timeouts tons of service pressure here going hard in that scene between eggleston and peterson [Applause] cubic looking over to the sideline the coaches will give her the area or the player to be probed from the service line easy chance once again for nebraska and horse off speed off the edge and the cornhuskers are rolling right now leading 20 to 13. and not even flinging that ball to stevens right now they know that texas knows difference could get the ball they want to set her so they're sitting outside over gabriel and scoring down the line well one of the things we found out about the all-american stivers wearing number 26 suffered a left ankle sprain less than a week ago so coach cook said she's 100 but that's easy for him to say exactly horst off the edge again how key is it to the success for nebraska to have production out of that left side hitting position it's everything you know you're going to get it from the middles matty cubic has been so good all year that's the one piece that's been kind of missing so that's going to be huge for them tonight look at these two freshman attackers bait and horse and krause perfect eight for eight and you wonder if coach elliott might make that switch with his other setter coming in and get some blocking size well right now off speed shot but texas looks like they did in the opening set against washington texas can't pass they're on their heels right now and trying to find ways to get the ball on the floor that's that's hard against a team like nebraska when we talked to jenna gabriel after that comeback win on thursday night she said that it was the turnaround of the passers right that really really gave texas an opportunity to come back in that match combination play cubic off the edge gabriel there comfortably [Applause] good cover by akana right side to phillips one on one out of bounds into the antenna set too wide it may have been a little bit too wide or she tried to just cut it off but look at this coverage right here akana just laying out nebraska defense you're going to say it all night and take a good look at this swing by philip just grazed it just crazy here is stiffens who had three aces on thursday night against the illinois off speed smart shot schuyler field 6-2 junior out of missouri city texas first team all big 12 once again sixth in the conference and attacking at 331 and the other texas attackers o'neil butler and molly phillips were one two and three in the conference well and they all of them they can all do it it's a big moment para para can get texas back in this opening center at least give them some momentum absolutely ken well handled by akana [Music] the quality of contact is pretty good kayla can't be able to throw that ball down through the texas block and let's talk about some of those block touches as well haynes is up there she's not getting used she's not getting hit over right now slowing the ball down and giving her defense a chance to get underneath it so nebraska is able to get by the para service rotation if you will nebraska two points away from taking the opening set that's trouble working on phillips nice save by gabriel [Applause] wonderful dick and eggleston converts she does off fantastic dig down the line by gabriel keeping that alive wants to keep this team in it she's going to be grinding and going after that is a competitor right there on the court it's a huge ask for texas to come back in this opening set but what they have is time to get some comfort and get some momentum going into the second working on cubic krause [Applause] eggleston's out of the play [Music] eggleston's back in the play [Applause] can you score in transition down the line by logan eggleston eccleston's done that twice now she got krause on the last one here's that transition play and watch her just go after the right hand of baton horse just turns it right down the line off the hands and still in bounds josiah now at the surface line the libero for texas has been exceptional as she was on thursday night been solid all year long and getting better by the week combination play again ripped but out of bounds looking for a touch better look by texas at least getting two blockers in front of there reading that play might get a challenge here nebraska has a timeout left if it was the old system and you were really sure you might use it but it with the 23-18 lead i think you got to just say wait a minute we will live to fight another or we will live to disagree another day [Applause] that ball served out of bounds and now nebraska will have their first set point opportunity once again the seventh meeting all time in the ncaa tournament they played for the championship twice they played in the semifinals in 2016. and kenzie knuckles set point number one service error for knuckles nebraska has been much better in serve and received so far in this opening set irrespective of that most recent miss here's peterson set point number two cubic on the left cathy in the middle krausey on the right hard off the block by one of the best in the business maddie cubic 6-3 junior out of west des moines iowa returning all-american nebraska takes the opening set ncaa volleyball championship coming your way from austin texas and right now the nebraska cornhuskers asserting their defensive will on texas and as advertised nebraska 141 opponent hitting percentage best in the big ten seventh nationally well it's everything they do not just their floor defense very good at blocking we watched them in practice really training against the setter tendencies and that's what i'm seeing right now develop where does the ball go based on where jenna gabriel is on the court and they're really in a good position at the net you wonder how the freshman bait and horst and krause would react to this sort of setting beautifully four of six for bait and horse four of seven for krause just one error between the two and you can see the numbers texas held to 125. but again all about serve and reception right now bait and horst and the cornhuskers are winning from the service line but texas was able to find their way into that contest against washington although it took a while 2019 25 19 25 20 and down 15 10 before somehow skyler fields and the rest of the longhorns were able to turn that around they're gonna have to get something going here turn things around in this set gabriel will start things off for texas 27-1 on the year 15-1 in the big 12. good serve working on cubic when they can and prousey again what a freshman lindsay krause big ten all freshman team and depending on the service the number one or over number one or two overall national recruit last year birthday girl getting it done and very good from the left side i'd like to see her numbers hitting in that rotation on the left there is knuckles very easy serve [Applause] fields a strike no pitching catch well she moved in crashed into that middle of the court left the sideline open but it was a good pass and skyler fields going just a little bit sharper into the court [Applause] well handled by rodriguez that was a very good serve that's up up by gabriel [Music] knight to the net kayla kathy the transfer out of missouri really good delivery on a tight pass very good haines is really good at working her way around the net saving balls from going over but kathy's scary she's a dangerous attacker she can get up quick and fast and beat the block nicholas 510 senior out of maryville tennessee second team all-american last year twice she's made the all-big ten team but did not make it this year good block touch out of the middle by stevens what a cover by rodriguez [Applause] you'll see it ball set a little bit too tight block touch there coming to krause no to cubic on the outside [Applause] eggleston let's talk about that dig that cover by rodriguez just staying underneath it that's what nebraska does so well but here's krause getting caught in the middle of the court have some reach out tries to slow it down and eggleston hitting off the hands [Applause] oh just served out of bounds lexi rodriguez again out of sterling illinois it's about a two-hour drive from sterling illinois to chicago to her club team she would always get there early and thousands and thousands of reps and serve reception but i talked to tyler hildebrand about what has made rodriguez so special he said she just reads the game beautifully she's in spots that nobody else even sees as evidenced by that cover it's just the perfect combination of someone coming out of that club [Applause] and back to that point coming out of that sports performance club you're going to get trained you're going to be trained really well and he said it's the balance between reading well and being trained really well service winner by akana had 13 digs and three aces on thursday night and missed that one just out of bounds [Applause] [Music] just underway here in the second nebraska the number 10 overall seed 24 and seven one of eight big ten teams to advance into the field this year when the opening set 25-19 they were in control the whole way and now texas returning a favor from the service line they could do this driving this ball straight down the line they went after akana here in the same rotation earlier just really trying to work her sideline keep that ball off the net and going high and outside it's tough because rodriguez stands right in the middle of the court and takes up a lot of space again when nebraska is able to have her make first contact they side out at 40 oh look at that great flirt by peterson down the line doing everything they can to keep it off of rodriguez this is big this is really big for texas they have to do this in this rotation get some serves on them a couple of aces here they're going to move things around and now stack their passers and pull akana out cubic is available in the five to five they go after her they get it on knuckles it's just not about just being the opera reward or they're gonna have to they're just gonna keep moving the ball around avoid ruger again stevens rejected momentarily joust coming oh gabriel there along with breon butler a saving block that time i think cubic got it number 10 in red but how many balls have fallen that you think are just going to dribble down the net that are blocked and still covered by nebraska keeping the ball alive what a play by cubic at the net that was really an interesting adjustment made by nebraska when akana got in some trouble pulling her out of the receive [Applause] very quick set to eggleston that ball is up oh look at that set [Applause] ames is doing a good job blocking her position very nice job that's all thrown down by logan eggleston that one was way inside the court eggleston threw that one back to the right side of the court they're not happy about it yeah they thought that that ball was illegally thrown not tipped to the floor by logan eggleston so there's going to be a talk about this one it looks like we might even have a challenge you can't challenge this they're challenging something else right yeah so here's that throw back to the sideline and it's how long is it in your hand does it change direction as well we'll see what they're challenging here in a second well you saw the nebraska coaching staff tyler hildebrand again who'd been in nebraska a couple of years ago was part of that championship in 2017. and again you can challenge the entire rally at the olympic games in the challenge system you can only challenge the final action or you have to press a buzzer to stop play but in college if that rally that lasted about four and a half minutes you could you could go back and look at everything you could dial it all the way back they're looking for a belief for a net violation on eggleston yeah they got a net violation that is really good work and discipline by the nebraska coaching staff well i'm just looking at it you know everyone's in charge of something and they're taking it out they're looking at everything on the court because those little plays those are big yeah the officials really didn't want to call that center line violation unless somebody was in danger or it interfered they wanted play to continue but you have an assistant coach staring at right center line which is not part of the challenge in college volleyball by the way [Applause] over the top wow good shot selection by eggleston that time down in front of number six in red akana very smart we'll take a look at this again there it is wow yep on the throw down that's a great call eggleston very very consistent 44 aces 45 errors that's really a good number and she serves tough in between well handled by cubic stiffens stiffens has not been the focus of the offense so far even on good reception but she's got to give them a lot well they have stressed the right side walk of texas especially when gabriel's been up there and now since they've done that that's going to open up some things for stevens and that's that could be a little bit of trouble the third attempt for stiveron's her first kill both teams serving really tough that's way easy chance here in transition that ball should not go down kayla kathy just kept that ball in play and somehow got to the floor on the side of texas yeah that ball was set a little bit too slow but she hung in the air and made something of it but you that ball can't go down no it was too high too slow it's difference again [Applause] cathy bait and horsed out on the left it'll be the bait and horst who tucks it down inside what a match mate norris is having it's been big big for for nebraska right now going after again down the line trying to find some room in the block when gabriel is up there dayton horst was six of 21 against illinois so far early in the second set she's five excuse me make it five of eight passing woes continue for texas good block by fields kathy troy to go off speed and had the ball blocked right back on her that fight ball died a little bit on pat kathy she really couldn't get a good swing on it look at that hustle by akana going after it you make a setting mistake on the slide or too close to the net against either of these teams particularly particularly against texas asia o'neil [Music] [Applause] hot hand baiting horse feeling it goes off speed engelstown ripping out of the back row beautiful transition play again two blockers in front of the middle and the left side block and that's what edgarson sees so she goes to the right side of the court around kathy eggleston getting a lot of action so far no surprise there she gets over 30 percent of all the sets 9 of 23. wonderful swing by number 14 you've seen her play any number of matches this year when you covered the big ten is this the best start you've seen absolutely i mean she is feeling it right now smart with how she's swinging off the edges and then mixing it up but getting on it pretty darn fast i mean that's the difference right now did not show that much heat on thursday night she has shown much more tonight back row again that ball's up not down yet now it's called down [Applause] and once again there's tyler hildebrand the assistant coach to me that's a violation that's not a tip it's a rebound sport that is in her hand that isn't that is in my opinion but if the official's not gonna call it do it every time right just out of bounds wow that was really close i believe that was just out everyone's booing it was very very close but i saw it all out on this earth magnificent we're going to have a challenge coach elliot is going to challenge in or out on the serve magnificent crowd once again capacity about 4 500 there's about 5 000 in here yeah that falls out yeah that ball is just over the end line so nebraska has used a challenge successfully but they only have two left texas has used a challenge and is using it now unsuccessfully they have two challenges remain if we play five which is a very good likelihood then each will get an additional challenge in the 15-point tiebreaker back with three-time all-americans to lima rockwell i'm paul sunderland thanks for joining us congratulations to louisville wisconsin and pittsburgh who will it be that ball's clearly out of bounds yeah will it be nebraska who won the opening set 25-19 they did it at the defensive end holding texas to only 125 efficiency and siding out at just over 50 percent i just thought that was a well scouted set they've really executed the game plan exactly how they wanted to in set number one so louisville will take on wisconsin in the first semi-final next thursday and then followed by the pit panthers who finished third in the acc miami had a wonderful year but could not advance past florida and john cook is still talking to the official about that throwdown [Applause] just planning to see but now the first referee who is paula martin has established that she's going to let it go yeah and you have to be consistent throughout 100 here is knuckles brian butler a little bit of a slip a slow developing quick set out of the middle well when the ball is passed off the net to be able to still get her involved you have to run something like that you can't fire it in there super quick and she can go get it she has the ability to score even if it's often tied at 11. one last thought on the throwdown i just don't want to see one called later after you've let five or six go and let's not forget logan eggleston did not invent that that's been in the game right nice pass krause slicing off the angle boy the two freshman number 22 lindsay krause along with ali badenhorst number 14 in red are superb so far excellent vision sees that block in front of the ball hits the right side of the ball just to chop it inside the block that set was not perfect it might have been outside the antenna that was a really good play by krause eggleston getting a lot of action on top of the net cubicle take care of that started with the first block keeping keeping that ball on the texas side and then cleaning it up after the coverage 23 digs now for nebraska the best in the country at the defensive end rodriguez back to serve one more ticket to be punched to go to columbus semifinals on thursday [Applause] rodriguez perfect set in transition off the edge of the block prousley's going to get a touch beautiful play a nice pickup by haynes but that ball by rodriguez she's so good at setting that second ball perfectly to her pins nebraska is better at the big things serving and passing and also better at all the little things right now like that perfect bump set [Music] [Applause] eggleston is blocked krause again with some help from stiverons crowds are taking care of that line really strong right hand after a slow start texas put up their usual spectacular offensive numbers but so far tonight hitting 180 to nebraska's 3-15 nebraska only hits 220 on the year tough serve and down nebraska rolling right now extending their lead 16-11. that area of the court has been in trouble for texas at some times between cara and jose and taking advantage of that right now time out called by texas use both of their timeouts relatively early in that opening set once again taken by nebraska 25 19. the 20th annual jimmy v classic is sunday afternoon on espn 1 p.m eastern time number 14 kentucky versus number seven louisville 3 p.m eastern time number 8 maryland versus number one south carolina to donate to the v foundation for cancer research go to v.org [Music] lindsay krause we talked about it's her birthday and she's playing like it that's for sure so good from every single area of the court john cook said he'd love to have her even play on the left and maybe we'll see that in future years but has been good from the left and the right and a key player for this team she's one of the freshmen that's been consistently on the court for nebraska throughout the course of the season nebraska wants balance and they're getting it maddie cubic has seven kills but it's taken her quote unquote 23 shot attempts to get there look at krause seven of 11 hitting almost 550 and even better than that ali bayton horst hitting six of 10. well in krause three i believe three of those were on the left in rotation one yeah she's scoring over there but getting it down on the right as well those two freshmen stepping up in a major way well when we were walking over together to come to this match we were talking about how it might play out right it was a lot of the conversation was about how could nebraska score off the left they're doing it first ball side out with krause in rotation one and they're also doing it in transition paul that's such a good point because everything else they're doing we know they can do they play defense right they block well but that's the difference right now as far as hitting percentage the 221 number is really low for a team in national championship contention here is rodriguez [Applause] jenna gabriel has had her track shoes on so far on the night cubic threw breon butler and down what can texas do to slow down this onslaught they have to pass the ball a little bit better but when the ball comes back they can't get tooled like that be patient low and over but but really sometimes you can't help it right now the lefts are going off the wheels are turning on the sideline of texas see that pass is better that set is low though man i don't like that set by gabriel trying to go quick to eggleston and we're going to have a center change sagecon the transfer from utah is coming on see if she can change some things up here just get the offense flowing a little bit differently and a little bit of a break as well for texas we'll have some conversation with jenna gabriel overpass wow nebraska did not play that well at all texas take advantage tied again play continued there was some contact in the middle wow that is a really late call it was late wow explain what happened there well it was very late that ball was passed you'll see nicklin haynes's back row the ball was coming over the net and there was contact there did the ball cross the plane of the net that's the question and our referee believes that it did not and has now given the ball to nebraska the ruling is that that ball was entirely on nebraska's side and breon butler interfered with a setting attempt that's a tough one i'm not that was close 1911. you can change setters but you better change passing percentages as well absolutely that one put down by eggleston let's take a look at that last close play between nicklin haines and breon butler the ball still was on completely on nebraska's side that's a great call i thought it was going over the net but that is a good that is the right call yep absolutely good call [Applause] right back at you one slam dink deserves another nebraska's sideline not complaining about that one no not at all stiffens going up high seeing the block well and just flinging that thing down again we're not calling her name a lot they haven't needed to and that's been their bread and butter the middles really and right now it's been all the lefts and occasionally some middle still trying to recapture the strength that took her to first team all-american last year after back surgery that ball is down but just to finish the thought on lauren stiffer is a 6-4 senior out of scottsdale he's been a three-time all-american but she had back surgery may 11th and had to have that later than she wanted because of the covid restrictions it was considered to be um not a non-essential essential surgery and she didn't start jumping again until early september and missed the first 12 matches of the year that's difficult just jumping right in stiffens oh rejected and a little stare down from eggleston that is a monster block right there it watches perfectly timed stevens just wanted to go hard down the line and eggleston got her that's going to be a net violation against cubic that ball set a little bit tight time out nebraska [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] logan eggleston twice the big 12 player of the year it's well over 300 being slowed somewhat right now by nebraska's defense slowed down a little bit but when it matters when it counts that's when logan edelson can step up and that's what she's doing right now trying to lead her team here and get some momentum going like they did against washington left side look at that 42 swings because texas can't pass they can't pass and right now i mean that's that's the difference but on the right are not getting the ball like they normally do or would like to and and very very predictable when you pass the ball so poorly that texas has since the start of this match everybody knows it's going left side so you look at the middles kayla kathy along with stifferings with some help from krause bate norris and as we talked about nickelodeon haines is doing a good job blocking her position because she's not blocking a lot of sets that are in system absolutely she can slow it down she's a big she's not a tiny setter so this isn't someone that's really really small if the ball is off the net she can get her hands in front of it and slow it down played a lot of volleyball for the nebraska cornhuskers the first ever freshman in program history to start coming out of the timeout here's peterson 20 to 15. [Applause] peterson has been good from the service line she's worked the ball straight down the line at akana pryor we'll see if they pull akana out not even mess with it and force her to go into the left side of the court towards cubic and knuckles and that's exactly what they're going to do right now nebraska siding out at 68 percent texas at 51. the last two sets on thursday texas side it out at 90 service air good use of the timeout nicholan haynes points over goes nice job coach sometimes that's all you need just slow it slow it down a little bit and make the server sink nebraska won the opening set 25-19 they got out to a 17-10 lead and never looked back this is why all these sets are going to the left side that ball is down wow that's a roll shot looked pretty predictable but nebraska couldn't come up with it with akana especially it looked like the ball was at such an angle that she wasn't going to be able to even hit this ball down the line so i'm surprised that economy was so deep still down the line they are the best in the country defensively but they're not perfect nobody is i guess we're expecting everything to be up here is eggleston bad pass point for texas texas is out of timeouts nebraska has one remaining 6-2 run for the longhorns remember that incredible run they went on in the third set on thursday night i do indeed 10-4 that runs save their tournament championship hopes on the overpass field skying and throwing that down texas can do it from the service line they have the servers to go on these runs and now nebraska passing with two getting everybody out of the way have cubic down the line in area one and they go after her good pass really good pass and stiffering is able to tap into the middle of the campfire stepping up big time on that pass going right at her edges was such a tough serve and that was right in between the passers nice job taking that team what a clutch pass when nebraska had to have it create the opportunity for stiverons who's really good at the line so far this weekend block touch deflected by kathy nice play that time by sage that's why she's in she can score she can make some things happen at the net and we'll see if she can block some balls here as well again the pass is good enough bait and horse block deflection perfect first contact by o'neill asia o'neil with the contact remember the other night i do at 1917 right after that challenge it was the same thing came in big time i mean she can play defense we need to stop staying for a middle blocker she can just flat out please those are the little things that make a difference 22-20. out of the back row o'neill again perfect dig papa jermaine loves that one he played some defense in his time too sir but a smart shot to vision at the net by fields asia o'neil quality contact and then a magnificent saving dig look at this 10-3 run very very eerily similar to thursday night if you weren't with us on thursday washington the number 15 seed huskies and we should forget that number 15 number that is such a good team they won the opening set 25-19 they won the second 25-20 up in the third 12-7 and then 15-10 until texas came storming back and then texas absolutely dominated the fourth and the fifth and it's almost exactly how it happened the energy the digs the defensive effort the change in just demeanor right now and is this enough right now in this set to keep it going the crowd sure things it is [Music] a little bit of history both of these programs as we showed you right before first serve have made a lot of history in the ncaa championships this is the 41st edition but that was the first time in texas volleyball history in the tournament they came back from two sets down all right set it for us here selena 2221 o'neal serving they've taken akana out yep and where do you go assuming a workable pass for nicklin hayes i think you want to go out to baton horse again she's been good she can hit it off the hands and out of bounds that's going to score easy serve not a perfect pass recycling out of the back row cubic having to tip nice play by rodriguez another free ball how jacked is skylar fields right now turning it around again it was field turned it around in the washington match as well oh by the way killed by texas oh yeah that happened tied at 22. and missed out about that was a really good run for o'neill both at the service line and defensively and in first contact it's a great run and they can cite it out here all the momentum and see if nebraska can keep it together the freshman can they stay calm and poised here in this set dayton horse and krause up front book ending on kayla kathy on the slide o'neal good block touched by baton horse big one right back at you by texas fields feeling it throwing it off the block and out of bounds very smart play a couple of excellent touches on the outside by sage torres excuse me on the outside slowing the ball down there that shot is not working right now with her at the net torres six foot blocker as opposed to five eight in gabriel 23 all and out of bounds back-to-back service errors taking some pressure off of nebraska [Applause] kennedy knuckles will come in to serve let's look at knuckles numbers 32 aces 28 errors good ratio and a good defensive lineup as it is in all six rotations for nebraska set point number one overpass texas texas was starting to find a rhythm in receive but when it came down to it a missed pass cappy goes downtown and nebraska leads two sets to none gregory jim austin texas nebraska taking on the longhorns once again in the number 10 seed cornhuskers on top of texas two cents to none asia o'neil serving defending got texas back into this but then they they let it get it get away well that's tough i mean that serve tough one but followed up with another miss serve i mean that's kind of the kiss of death and this was the finish and nebraska really executing playing at a very very high level hanging in there towards the end of that when texas rallied back like you can see them on the court right now they're smiling they're in a good place i think they feel like they have momentum here right now and can they turn it around and get three sets here paul i don't know man it's tough to do it twice louisville is in they will take on wisconsin congratulations as well to dan fisher and the pit panthers [Applause] [Music] and liquid member money getting the panthers into the championship i hope she doesn't mind her last name is monet two cents to none i mean i guess with tongue-in-cheek you could say texas has got nebraska right where they want them 25 19 25-23 nebraska 24-7 on the year the number 10c good pass really good pass and a dig right on target by baton horse missed out about texas they're saying no touch but every player on the floor every single one every person in the building wearing red says that there was a touch and a lot of frustration from the staff having to use another challenge well it's it's one nothing right do you really use one here even if you know even if you're sure that it was a missed call can you burn a challenge this early that's a really good point paul i mean yeah it is early it is early to use a challenge in this set see if we can take a look at that finger remember this is the old system [Applause] i think i see it i think i do old system meaning that you utilize a challenge it's gone whether you're right or not that that'll be changed next year but you've got to go through the gotta go through the process the process was there a touch by torres number nine on the right side [Applause] we're gonna take a good long look at this i i just look i just don't know if i would have burned one this early in a set well and that that's i i mean i i don't disagree with you at all i mean it's it's early on it's it's one nothing you have so much match left are you seeing that pinky i'm not i i'm just not sure and the officials do have that's brett myers the second referee he does have uh as many looks as we can possibly provide right [Music] the only thing this does it's right or wrong slows down some of that momentum potentially from that last set that texas had coming into this set yeah texas was playing its best volleyball until they served those two balls out of bounds and took the pressure off nebraska nebraska hitting 265 so far in the match texas now up to 221. touch but my argument is yes okay okay not having the challenge at your disposal to me is more important than than being up one nothing i agree with you i'm with you you're making it and i am with you see under the system we'll have next year once your challenge is upheld then you keep it right you just roll [Applause] fields looking into the cross court that was not a really hard rip no i think she thought about it i don't want to hit it right at rodriguez wanted to hit it a little sharper took something off of it and then and then made that error we looked at the reception numbers and it really bears out the strategy lexi rodriguez has only been served three times so texas is going at cubic for the most part good deep cross court corner rodriguez getting a hand on it [Applause] nobody out that'll work that will work holding the block everybody jumps with the middle field with nobody up skylar fields who was spectacular in last year's regional round 18 kills on 27 swings now with nine kills on 20. but texas can't get their middles going consistently they can at the blocking end kathy is roofed by butler what a commit block thereby butler you watch her just track the middle coming in right in front of her and she takes care of it there's that look jumps at the same time nowhere to go cubic good in reception all night long and that ball dug but out of bounds but back to the middle blockers brianne butler two of seven and asia o'neal just one of four that is way below their season average but it's not about setting choices it's about poor passing and i like the setting change because i think they have a really good feel for where gabriel is going with the ball and it might just be a little bit different here and how the other setter sets the ball how sage sets the ball well the sample size is not nearly as big so nebraska won't have as much film film film what year is it beautiful dig right at the three meter line and a better glow butler coming alive reading that play perfectly knowing that haines likes to throw it into kathy when she's off the net that way nice move is it hard for a middle blocker to stay engaged when they're not really a big part of the offense very hard to stay engaged but butler is doing it from the defensive end and she knows what she needs to do he has to do whatever it takes that ball sprayed out of balance by para who has not gotten it going from the service line so far tonight there is jared elliott the winningest coach in the history of texas volleyball surpassing a hall of famer in nick haley and it was nick haley for texas and terry pettit in nebraska who got all this madness started back in the 80s [Applause] both of them hall of fame coaches [Applause] step inside missed out of bounds by butler a good route but just over the sidelines made some movement got her some some room there is terry pettit who got it all started at nebraska the court is named for him there at the divani center and nick haley won the first ever championship here in texas in 1988 first non-west coast team to win a national championship both of them phenomenal fantastic coaches i played when pettit was coaching fantastic team and a great coach he led nebraska to their first ever title in 1995 against texas buckler again with another block how many is that i mean they have four points and she's got three blocks i don't know two or three blocks big performance by butler that's all she can do right now hate to see her go on the sideline when she's doing so much for her team right now five blocks now for breon butler seven as a total for texas five for nebraska nebraska coming down a little bit back to their season average almost hitting wise 243 now not a good set ball too tight even rodriguez couldn't control that was a perfect set in transition by torres beautiful set the block has to go all the way to the pin they they want to leave that space for rodriguez and protect the line did everything they wanted to do just too much heat from eggleston tied at five melanie ocea the libro out of torrance california back to serve [Applause] block texas phillips this is a big block reed they read it well right hand that's a great shot of the right hand of molly phillips turning back into the court phillips has been very very quiet offensively but again keep your head in the game and make a contribution nice block texas coming back here early in the third to take the lead must-win situation for the longhorns some passing trouble now for nebraska rousey what a perfect delivery by rodriguez uh that must have gone through some hands because i thought the block was there take a good look at this another fantastic dig by haynes krause seeing oh [Music] low micro hole that's the micro hole [Applause] wow found that space sometimes lucky counts that's it [Applause] texas has got cubic dialed in right now but that's a smart shot that's an all-american veteran shot into the deep line corner beautiful shot just a high chop into the corner this is that huge block in front of her man found that corner perfectly cubic now with nine kills 34 attempts to get there here is akana boy i like that really nice pass by para that's tough to do we talked about how the passing got better you mentioned it earlier against washington which is really interesting when things get tight the passing getting better that's what para did against washington as well really stepped up peterson on to serve nebraska receiving with three knuckles in the middle of the court cubic in area five maybe five to five going for cubic they do out of the back row and off the block you usually see that in transition kenzie knuckles hitting 168 on the year you know why not let's just throw it up there again and she'll find it she can hit it hard she's a good attacker out of the back row the smart swing off the hand texas blockers were ready they were there they were there nobody fooled on that play nebraska leading at 8-7 two sets to none so much history on the line between these two teams bombed by asia o'neil what a set that ball passed all the way forward look at this beautiful set flung all the way back there to o'neal perfectly placed between these two teams nebraska is looking for their 16th national semifinal for texas their 14th wow it's the 41st year of the tournament like it's like he's got him tickets in advance i mean isn't it isn't it cheaper to buy him away in advance it is cheaper get better seats oh they're flying charger in the way that's a good point good point instructions given and received [Applause] eggleston i can do that too out of the back row offense getting better now on the side for eggleston in texas definitely clicking a lot better and just moving it around a little bit more this ball's off the net you'll see the finding eggleston again same shot is available she hits it again out of the back row the blocking for texas has been superb here in the third nebraska only hitting 0.77 that's the bad news the good news it's tied at seven a piece that's blocking oh awkwardly fields bounces right back up oh to be young reaching under trying to say something to her good sportsmanship here's that play field's reaching over that's blocking the set for the second time it is yep yep and they're both right there on that center line that's uh let's see yeah so good that uh skylar fields was able to walk away that's a dangerous play bad pass [Music] oh what a contact that time by cubans fantastic first contact by cubic handle that covered well here's that play right on the money and this is the scary part about kathy fast transition uganda got hit on the head there from the celebration maddie cubic wearing number 10. that ball was spinning a lot that was really tough and she made it look easy [Applause] good cover by baten horst that was krause who got that ball set tight smart shot by field [Music] what a way to find the court logan eggleston man want to swing by number 33. staying patient covering going to fields over and over again in a smart shot by eggleston out of the back row sage torres [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that rattles through a net violation is called they called that on brian butler and she does not protest the horse just pulling the trigger pretty quick beating the block before it's able to get set dayton horse now eight of 16 no errors lindsay krause nine of 14 one error 17 of 30 between the two of off of them and out of bounds nice play out of the middle as a result of better passing well and eggleston's been really holding it down they've been serving her serving her tough in different areas on the court just keeping it up in the air i mean that's the key for texas it doesn't have to be a perfect pass they can still run what they want krause and bayton horst are hitting 5 35 combined that's crazy and taking a lot of tough swings tremendous performance by the nebraska freshman texas would like nothing better than for para to get on a roll [Applause] krubick missed it out of bounds looking for the line you saw her turn get her feet there and turn directly down the line missed it wide just handed a note 5 080. i told you the capacity was 4500. that's a new record for attendance at gregory gym wonderful crowds all over the country in louisville in pittsburgh and of course in wisconsin oh smart shot lindsay krause and ali badenhorst are having a night coming up with this i mean this pass keeping this alive is one thing but then finishing it off with a smart shot and a kill is another and sometimes you're just a little lucky it wasn't a manhole cover i told you it was a micro hole micro and that one was just lucky through the arms of breon butler but when it's your night it's your night that one tipped down thrown down if you will but consistently not cold so just keep it that way and that was that was good that was that was on top of it let go of it quickly just threw it in the middle of the court and no protestation whatsoever from the nebraska sideline [Applause] chance for texas to take the lead good to the outside pokey kept alive [Music] ames has got that up spatula dripping and an unforced error for nebraska there's the pancake this tip looked like it was gonna fall but it's a nice read by haynes and this one cubic just couldn't come up with yeah rare ball hand yeah mistake rodriguez has been almost flawless but set that ball a little too tight texas leading at 14-13 must win that ball served into the top of the tape jose had three aces the other night a couple of them coming as they dribbled off the top of the tape texas needs to be tough at the service line consistent with what they're doing fionale akana on to serve now and play some defense out of hawaii we'll have the media timeout after this point rodriguez right on target and cubic going off speed nice play by eggleston dug again by rodriguez and missed out of bounds oh a net violation [Applause] the net is going to be called on asia o'neil and we will step aside nebraska one set went away from yet another trip to the semifinals back with three-time all-americans lima rockwell on paul sunderland one more ticket will it be nebraska or will it be texas and coming out of the media timeout akana with her 34th ace on the year how big is that out of a timeout not just keeping that thing in play going after it another really good serve if you're texas do you call a timeout here even though you just had one that's tough but yes maybe yeah yeah one more maybe yeah no more maybe no had to call it there akana was on a roll and uh there's no question that nalani yosea who has been really really rock solid in reception was a little bit unnerved let's take a look at the last two aces huge for nebraska it is and the question is do you back her up a little bit i mean you can't back her out of the passing just back up the reception and see if akana can work her short a little bit but she's going deep into that corner right now that's what she's catching yoseya [Music] [Applause] they're the three defenders they're inseparable even over on the sideline can we dig more balls i don't know can you i don't know 17. well let's give you the numbers 43 digs for nebraska 31 for texas now nebraska always out digs their opponent right i mean they're the best in the country right right but would the question be who would put the ball to the floor lindsey krause 10 of 16. ali baitin horst 8 of 16. 18 of 32 with one air hitting over 500. keep saying it that's the difference but look at the digs here but we don't talk about how good their floor defense is and that's what keeps them in it that's why bait norse is able to score that's why crowds is able to score just keeping the ball alive and off the floor which again texas just doesn't see every day you know a lot of those swings that normally go down are not going down [Music] enjoying the moment you gotta love that i mean crowds going crazy standing room only and they're out here kicking it up kicking a heel why not two sets to none and 17-14 texas needs to get out of this rotation [Applause] what a dig by rodriguez that was a good swing saving block the block this time phillips and o'neill has gotten texas back in and is keeping him in this match and o'neal can step up just like butler did and take care of the net when that ball is off the net getting in a good position man what a dig by rodriguez nine blocks now for o'neal in texas 17-15 [Applause] shank pass peterson served those couple aces down the line at akana earlier is excellent against washington on thursday coming up big there with an eight timeout now called by nebraska we saw the serve reception numbers after the second set and there's no question that maddie kubick was target number one followed by kion akana but then keeping completely as much as they possibly can away from rodriguez and finally cubic has been rock solid all weekend all tournament long all career long if you will but it's just the constant it's a lot of pressure it's a lot of pressure and if they can't get it right honor you're just working those seams or that half of the court as hard as you can to get it on either knuckles or cubic or when they're passing in two just her half of the court take a look at the championship news and notes again three teams have advanced louisville and pitt for the very first time wisconsin for the third year in a row into the national semifinals in the pac-12 shutout of the regional finals for the first time since 1998. and again gonna have another big ten team in the national semifinals for every year since 2007. the big ten has really shown up again this year with wisconsin advancing nebraska here in a good position against texas and purdue also making it to the regional final round congratulations to dave shondell and the boilermakers on a wonderful season in our condolences to the chandelle family the loss of don one of the great men of volleyball in the country in years gone by one of the founders [Music] [Applause] coming out of the timeout 17-16 this third set has been very very close as was the second once asia o'neal and texas made a big move nebraska led it 21-18 were tied at 23 before a couple of service errors and then an overpass a big shift there got cubic completely out knuckles just took over for on the toss right on the sideline what a pass by knuckles kenzie knuckles tough if you're named knuckles you got to be gotta be tough and watch the shift as soon as they serve they pulled cubic out and moved knuckles over there into that deep corner well executed planned cubic now in double figures but hitting 10 kills 11 errors texas has certainly slowed her but she's out there for her all-around game as is logan eggleston doug again off one of the banners still legally in play you hit cross court you better expect it's coming back nice dig by akana perfect good touch by fields free ball nebraska on the slide off of peterson stiffers with the kill wow the defense by nebraska here's that first dig by rodriguez keeping it alive they keep keep it on their side of the court stevens one of the best middles in the country 1916. set her change once again two-time big 12 setter of the year jenna gabriel back on the floor tight pass that's got to be blocking the set yeah this official's done a very nice consistent job on that clearly it's against the rules to block the set when the ball is completely on your side absolutely the right call lauren stevens getting excited that ball's coming over but you see the ball is completely on the texas side of the net that's a good job by jenna gabriel at five foot eight going up and staying on that ball for sure cubic is blocked out of the back court it's the blocking right now for texas it is the blocking they know where the ball is going when you they serve down the line and it's a little bit off the net they're gonna set cubic in that in that play and everybody gets in they know exactly what they need to do right now bayton horst hadn't had a shot in a while oh the pokey peterson was there but asia o'neil couldn't see her a break on the outside baton worst able to put that ball away that's a tough one when it dribbles right down your back you're coming down want to make a move for it just couldn't come up with it i remember that play because peterson was right there as she should have been nebraska five points away from their 16th semifinal [Applause] fields off the inside hand dale's going right back at it haynes not completely over the net on that last that last swing 17 kills for eggleston now schuyler fields in double figures texas hit 228. nebraska 247. let's see if they go over gabriel they've had success over there on the left side with this matchup with baton horse and gabriel served just out of bounds [Applause] remember it was serving errors at the end of the second set that really hurt texas [Applause] [Music] nebraska four points away saved by peterson out to bait and horse going off speed fields off the block and out of bounds rule number one never stop keep going and peterson does look at the hustle the turn and go into the bench plays it lays out for it saves her team and this is all peterson's point can texas capitalize they trail by one [Music] fields through the block and down this chance on the left by nebraska both teams with a timeout remaining working on cubic relentlessly oh another missed serve so that's two out of the last three that's the stephanie in this stretch after 20 in the red zone how are you in those moments [Music] a lot of pressure for texas right now not that done for nebraska you saw all those service areas and let's remember the first two rounds were just three sets right it was only five sets against washington here is knuckles 22-21 [Applause] fields into the cross [Applause] court fields turning it on lighting it up right now transitioning out to her is the answer does parra have an answer at the service line now for texas been the most dangerous for the longhorns all season long the answer is yes and it started with par at the service line better under pressure that tough serve cupping it towards the right side of the court [Applause] time out nebraska and from molly phillips she has really had a tough night offensively her first kill [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] well since 2016 if you advance through the first and second round and you were one of the top seeds you got to host and so this is what you get and the record during that time for the home teams is 70 and four 12 of the 16 teams reaching the semis those are the four that fell and texas was one of them a couple of years ago pre-covert in 2019 to none other than [Music] this is why this is why it's so important to get that top fourth seed it's crucial to play at home your crowd can get you back in times that you just don't think well if texas is anywhere but at home on thursday night they don't come back and win that now right now again pressure is on down two cents and para has been frozen for a bit and now the cheerleaders are in her way [Laughter] ball's gonna come towards knuckles for sure in the timeout do you tell par to just go for it or do you tell her to keep it what do you tell her i bet you don't tell her anything okay i bet you just let her go back out there oh just out of bounds wow maybe a challenge coach elliot is asking his players down that line and there's going to be oh this is this is as big as the challenge the other night in the third set this is as big wow they're not very convinced the bench didn't seem very convinced they're right there on the sideline brian butler [Applause] just clips the top of the tape it's definitely hard to see from our vantage point on the initial flight oh oh wow wow there's some it's not going to be the angle kathy is kind of in the way of the other angle well the ball was called out look at that look at that freeze frame look at that that looks like it's on the line it does look like it's that that shot shows me that that ball is on the line and end oh yeah you think so as well especially when they bounced it back when you rewinded a little bit there i wasn't sure if it was grazing past it but i i know that there are lots of athletes kind of in the way it's not their job to give us a clear view of the line but the best angle we had i think was the other one where they shuttle back and forth right i think that falls in look at how huge is this moment here we go [Music] [Applause] i do not know how to say cool as a cucumber in spanish but that's melanie parker well at least texas season was on the line absolutely and it still is this one's not this one's far from over out of a timeout now out of the challenge is she gonna do it well para misses that one but they wouldn't be they wouldn't be here now without the the winner in the ace absolutely set point number two must win for texas you have eggleston on the left breon butler in the middle phillips on the right a big block in front of him where is she going to go a chance for the tie butler texas comes storm [Applause] [Music] [Applause] didn't i say it at the beginning texas nebraska [Music] biggest difference for texas in that third set what got him over the line well you know i really like the change in the setting position it just provided a different look it provided a little different energy not that gabriel was doing bad but sometimes you just have to change things up and that work steadied out the passing that got things going offensively but it was the blocking the blocking of butler and o'neal stepped up so everything i guess a lot of things changed and texas just turned it around now it's nebraska's turn to bounce back but another must-win set situation for the longhorns dug by eggleston [Applause] lots of traffic shot up into the block haynes is luckily right on the spot that's that that's that's a bad set man that is set right in the phone booth with nowhere to go they still have phone booths somewhere yeah i don't know i saw one in croatia a few years oh my goodness yeah they're still there they're still in europe well look at some of the numbers from that set texas holds nebraska to 118. texas hits 300 sides out at 62. that was close 62 to only 58 but it was the seven blocks phillips finally got her first kill what a dig by rodriguez point blank another block butler just has the answer right now at the net nothing is getting past her phillips is usually very very dependable averages about two kills per set hits 395. they need to change things up find a way to get her going somewhat a little bit of a different set a couple of sets weren't perfect and she just couldn't get a good beat on the ball cubic looking to go high flat and got the touch perfect execution and phillips is shaking her head yep got her down the line that's the high flat swing because he's not getting around that big block right now cubic on the other side speaking of struggling 11 kills on 44 swings 13 hitting errors hitting negative more errors than kills she is not coming out however she does so much for this team they're trying to get phillips going yeah back-to-back really good swings that's what they did early on in the match high off the hands even when it was phillips up there working off the edges that's going to be a better swing for them the seventh meeting all time in the ncaa tournament between nebraska and texas played for the 95 championship the 2015 championship the semifinals in 16. oh they called a net violation stiffer says yep see right away no complaints [Music] [Applause] such history between these two programs 31st regional final for nebraska 26th for texas [Applause] easy serve gobbled right up and then down the line lindsay krause is having the best match of her freshman year the series history yeah they have played a lot this is the 57th meeting texas a 4-2 advantage in ncaa matches remember until 2011 nebraska was in the big 12. they used to play all the time really in recent years it's been in the these matches the most important matches of the year look at this matchup once again that's the third ace for akana working on yoseah the liberal for texas catching her in that corner see if they squeeze her a little bit more or do something a little bit of an adjustment but it's hard because you don't want her out of the passing pattern he can't pass with two against akana that's a break for texas and also just to finish that thought you're exactly right salima not not overwhelming confidence in para's ability to take a lot of court reception so that and that makes it a challenge yeah yoshi has just got to step in and make a play as para did at the end of the third set with a service winner and a service ace perfect pass and haines doesn't do it very often but that was really a good choice after first reception smart time haynes very good at this here's the ball pass watch o'neill just kind of waiting to see where she's gonna set the ball completely loses sight that's her player right there in that position when stiffens runs the slide [Applause] solid again and having some success down the line that's a high level swing against over the top of haynes and around deep down the line got a great defender back there but it was too too far for her to defend are the texas attackers from the left side are they aware or do they have it in their head how good rodriguez is in digging the cross court absolutely you want to avoid that at all [Applause] rare passing opportunity for rodriguez what a good high swing allie baton horse continues to have a knight look at her i mean this ball off the net that is a big swing for a young player with that block in front of her nebraska leading 7-4 in the fourth won the opening set 25-19 the second 25-23 before texas got on the board off the edge of the block left sides for texas starting to hit line well they've got to expose it they've had some success earlier a couple of swings off the edge they can hit that right hand i mean and they're they swing hard enough that it's hard to really slow them down when you're doing that [Applause] kathy missed it into the cross court good execution on the slide but just too wide and it's one point now lead still for nebraska texas following that perfect pass and there's four hands those big hands in front of you you're gonna make some adjustments and maybe make some hitting errors good block deflection chance for texas to [Applause] tie what a perfect set that time by eggleston and she just went with it hard into that angle and because she's so high she doesn't run out of room when she goes that far inside the court she has that angle fields now with 15 kills eggleston leading the way with 19. [Music] overpass oh joust won by hames she's one of the best at that she really is times it perfectly follows it she's strong she's got strong shoulders i don't know but plays it second that's the key wait for it yeah yeah and joust touch it last [Applause] off the block not there good work by kathy and krause as well on the outside saw krazy really turning her hand in to avoid this line shot but that's where kathy shows up and takes care of the cross court kayla kathy with her fifth block so far on the night as a team texas with 12. nebraska with seven they're working really working on you see it aims flying texas over the top throwing that ball well down very effective for texas when they both schuyler fields and logan eckelstein go up and just kind of throw that one to the middle the court just feels like this set look just like the previous two both 25 23 gonna go right down to the wire and going to come down to one play the previous set it was para's ace was the one play cubic in a good rhythm now passing and speaking of that all night long lindsay krause 12 kills on 20 swings hitting almost 500. these two freshmen bait and horst and krause between them 40 swings making 41 swings two errors two errors that's incredible something they need to do that's the way they they can win that time by knuckles [Music] and this is both krause and baton horst are going to be stars in college volleyball but this is way above the level they've shown all season long and john cook has said as much i need them to step up at some point really settle in there krausey has and bait norris having a huge match tonight here is parra again i'll give you their season numbers that ball i'll give them to you now let's take krause she's hitting 500. on the year she's hitting 219. bait and horse on the year 152 is hitting 476. playing out of their minds in a big moment in a facility like this in an environment like this incredibly impressive and give a lot of credit to nicholan haynes the senior setter who has had some struggles so far this year but if those numbers are there she's got to be setting a very good match absolutely [Applause] there's butler getting the ball they need to get her the ball she's doing it from the blocking end and if she can get going offensively there they can go on more runs with her can anybody put together a little bit of a mini run you'll see it back to serve nebraska leading 11 10. [Applause] cubic away from yosea salima does texas have to up their service pressure it looks like they're being a little conservative right now yeah maybe they are and i think they're trying to go right at people serve i'm serving you and it's going right into their laps if they can just serve hard in the seams i think they'll have a little bit more success nebraska who keeps maintaining they're siding out at a pretty good rate here in the fourth so they're maintaining just a little bit of separation another shank pass [Music] nebraska can they get to their oh head out of bounds the nebraska sideline says touch but remember the challenge at one nothing i remember remember i remember and you were very adamant that that was a bad idea well under this system you just can't burn a challenge i agree big break for texas everything was lined up for stifferings and haines if they go down the line over gabriel here [Applause] [Music] peterson once again stepping up coming through with an ace here is it just me or has texas had five or six aces this weekend off the top of the table yes he had a couple for sure helps to play at home oh that's a wonderful shot by cubic just a wonderful angle especially when it goes all the way out to the pin you might expect her to hit that ball down the line over gabriel and cuts it drops that thumb and cuffs it inside cubic now leading the way 13 kills krausey with 12. bait and horsed with 10. caffey was six stevens only has four remember sprained her ankle the week prior to coming into this round of the tournament and still not 100 after back surgery tough serve eggleston what a good block by stiveron's number 26 in red with hames see that move that block move hands over the net pikes at the net man that is nice see stifferings and haines they were looking up at the big screen they wanted to see that block again of course they do back in austin once again jam-packed gregory gymnasium look at this last championship in 2012 13 national semifinals three titles over all 15 for nebraska and five and there are times even with you put the rivalry aside there are times that nebraska and texas join forces they do to win an olympic gold medal jordan larson justine wongarantes k-rob kelsey robinson and chaka baghu chaka basu the all-time leading blocker for the university of texas [Applause] out of the back row cubic gets that ball down inside o'neill and now the little bit of a mini run a micro run mike uh mini mini micro is two mini is between three and five nebraska leading by three largest lead of the set they lead two sets to one [Applause] overpass great play by gabriel keeping that ball alive baitin horst again if texas wins this point what a play by gay oh they called it they called that oh no oh no you no no oh that's the thing you've let it go all night this is what this was my worst fear right so this is the play how long does it sit in her hand but that at this point doesn't even matter right how was that any different than the eight or ten that preceded it it was not it was not a high tip to the middle of the court and i don't even think wow wow i said it i said it two hours ago my biggest fear was that there was one going to be called out of the blue texas is in real trouble right now after gabriel had made a magnificent blocking save jared in timeout gonna be happy in timeout [Applause] look i'm not gonna be labor the point right i'm going to just say this if you call that one in the first set and you call them then it stops it stops but you don't call one in the fourth after letting 10 or 15 not not 15 but several go in my opinion that's a tough one and gabriel works so hard at the net several touches a couple of blocks here it is again the same play the same to me it's just no different what do you think selena i i think it's the same play they've been doing all night yeah that's what it is call it what you want but at this point [Music] you have to be consistent and i i didn't even think that was a throw i didn't even think that was i saw no differentiation from that play to any number that had preceded it what a big point huge huge because after the save that gabriel had potentially made on the overpass that was changing everything that was shifting that momentum again now texas is going to have to dig themselves out of yet another hole remember back to thursday night two sets to none 15 10. went on a 10-4 run in that set to get it back texas is gonna have to do the same nebraska the number 10 seed texas the number two nebraska won the first two sets the second 25 23 texas behind seven blocks won the third 25-23 this was back and forth eight eight nine nine ten eleven twelve ten but now the five-point advantage for the visiting cornhuskers [Applause] tight pass again another another chance for baiden horsten really good serving for nebraska ali bayton horse having the match of her life at the right time bait and horse 12 of 25 but most remarkably no errors as good as texas has been blocking bait and horse has not been blocked has not hit a ball out of bounds hitting 152 on the year hitting 500 in the regional finals [Applause] on fire that was [Applause] a huge rip on the outside by ali bate norris just going for it right now 19-12 texas on very very thin ice once again riley heinrich on to pass they go after her 20 to 12. going hard down the line right now [Applause] we're going to squeeze heinrich a little bit here is coming in now for fields might step into the passing yep she will five points away from a huge upset over your arch rival yeah service error here i mean it's not it's not an upset when it's nebraska it's you know this is a storied program they've been second in the toughest conference in the country in the big ten so it's no surprise they're gonna play them tight but certainly this would be an upset especially in this building nebraska and john cook the number 10 seed texas at number two very little time for eggleston and texas but there is time dayton horst off the edge again what a night for this freshman and another as we bring in tonight's top performer brought to you by buick lindsey krause 12 kills solid in blocking hitting 500 and then she and bayton horst how good is nebraska when these two freshmen i guess they're not freshmen anymore not anymore 32nd match of the year for nebraska [Applause] wonderful swing over the top by fields really good set by heinrich and if anyone can get them going and sealed she can streak points for them transition i would just throw it up to her there's only two two hitters but man just go with it maddie cubic has been rocks her offensive numbers are not going to blow anybody away but she has just been rock solid in reception and that's what nebraska has really needed making things possible for these freshmen but still another block there's brian butler with gabriel butler has been big she may have even reached over gabriel i'm not sure but she got so close to her so she can surround the ball and get that block [Applause] [Music] texas got to have it every opportunity nice dig akana right there out of the back row egg oston with a kill they've got time we've seen it before eggleston coming in hot out of the back row hitting that ball to the right back where she's been so effective tonight timeout called by nebraska the lead is still five three teams have advanced to the national semifinals two of them for the very first time and both out of the acc and what a record-setting year that conference had they had three teams in the regional final louisville moving on they will take on wisconsin at 7 eastern time on espn on thursday and the pit panthers follow either half an hour later or approximately 9 30 also on espn against either nebraska or texas it's been some amazing matches so far and just watching all of these teams all these new teams in in the hunt and in the mix talk about the parody but they've just gotten better the level of volleyball across the country has just increased so much over the last couple of years absolutely across the board and look look a lot of the challenge was logan eggleston one of the areas that can be challenged is put on the three meter line and when she hit this ball i was actually thinking that it was so close [Music] but remember it has to be conclusive right and there's not a camera dedicated to that line so here's the question does she hit the line there it is the call was a good play by texas [Music] and when you look at the court and the line you can see just even a little bit of that dark area of the court right before the three meter line yeah i i just don't think there was enough evidence to overturn that yeah i i agree with that decision probably a good challenge because if it's a two-point switch that makes it 22-15 and this might basically be over and nebraska is now out of challenges the call stands asia o'neil who has played some magnificent defense back at the line now she's got to serve tough if you're a texan fan texas fan good play by cubic [Applause] [Music] chance for texas to fields and missed it out of bounds a huge break for nebraska that's a big one that's where you want to go with it i mean fields has done so much and scored every time in transition that's that's a high flat swing just one miss [Applause] nebraska three points away from their 16th national semifinals i think that texas is going to challenge that there may have been a touch off the nebraska block i i don't know if they actually i don't know i don't think they actually think it was a touch that's just my opinion texas texas is out of timeouts this is perfectly allowable within the rules you never know there might have been a micro net you just you never know because again the officials are instructed to bundle all those three loops touch off the block a net fault and ball is in or out we'll see so maybe i'm mistaken but we will see if we see anything yeah there's a net violation there's a net violation wow yeah yeah yeah that's going to be a break for texas good use of the challenge so a two-point switch i stand corrected i certainly didn't think there was a touch because it was way over top of the wall but haynes did clip the net they know it i'm sure she told them in the in the huddle so they're prepared for you absolutely yeah volleyball players are notorious liars you can't what is this you can't you can't lie anymore i mean somebody's finger is like implanted in the balls i think we got a good look at it yeah that falls out of it but there's a net touch they look the the officials are instructed to look at all of it [Music] [Applause] and and haynes has told the coaching she i netted yeah yeah she might react like she didn't we'll see that's my favorite part yeah there it is okay there it is that's really good work by the texas coaching staff [Music] both of these teams have magnificent head coaches and staffs as you well know absolutely having served here and at your alma mater penn state it is a team effort high quality assistance associated head coaches on both staff that know the game and dissect it every single play two huge challenges one might have saved texas on thursday can this one do the same wow 21-17 we'll write it down 21-17 [Applause] cubic has been really good in first contact until now a huge point there driving it right that's right on her and that's the area you want to go again not just serving it easy in her lap driving that ball akana responds perfect pass fields going to get a look what did they call it the play was very innocuous i have no idea what the call was it's 21-19 and i haven't seen a single signal there's a jump set there's the sling i still have seen nothing they called it i think they called a net violet i didn't see it i didn't see it as well wow 21-19 what a play out to baiden horst are you kidding me she is showing wow so much experience guts i mean digging in here this is dead look at rodriguez i mean to put that ball in that position that was [Applause] an amazing play up into the block recycle may be coming right side no paint brush by kathy fields his roof kayla kathy dropping into that angle watch this move doesn't let her hit this ball sharp a big big drop aims to serve nebraska two points away that's a clutch comeback skyler feels a really good response always does fields getting her feet there hitting it just such a high level and a high contact point krause on the left kathy in the middle baton horse now on the right [Music] kathy one point away [Applause] [Music] match point semi-final point place is deafening [Applause] field not yet says fields in texas keeping it alive and para has to go to the service line this is her chance [Music] mara pulled texas over the finish line in the third set can she do it again perfect pass by rodriguez nebraska with the upset on the road what a performance by nebraska came in with a game plan executed it perfectly

Channel: NCAA Championships

Views: 552,337

Keywords: college sports, ncaa volleyball, college volleyball, ncaa volleyball 2021, college volleyball 2021, ncaa volleyball texas vs nebraska, texas vs nebraska volleyball, texas vs nebraska volleyball 2021, texas vs nebraska volleyball full game, nebraska vs texas volleyball, nebraska vs texas volleyball 2021, nebraska vs texas volleyball full game, nebraska vs texas full game, nebraska volleyball, nebraska vs texas, nebraska vs texas volleyball 2021 full, nebraska, womens all access

Id: -jpAK0YmdMA

Length: 130min 3sec (7803 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 13 2021